1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a light source device having lamp clips holding lamps, and a liquid crystal display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal display apparatuses are formed of a lamination of a liquid crystal display panel and a light source device in which a plurality of rod-shaped lamps each having both ends held are juxtaposed substantially parallel to one another on a chassis. The both ends of the lamps are fixed, for example, by a lamp holder disposed at each side of the light source device.
In recent years, with the increase in the size of liquid crystal display apparatuses, the number of lamps of the light source device has tended to increase, and the lamps has tended to become longer and thinner.
Regarding the increase in the number of lamps, a light source device has been proposed in which in order to reduce the number of lamps while maintaining the required brightness and suppressing the unevenness in the brightness of the light source device, the lamps are so arranged as to be close in the neighborhood of the center in the direction of juxtaposition of the lamps and to be sparse in the neighborhood of both ends in the direction of juxtaposition of the lamps (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H06-75216).
In this light source device, the plurality of lamps are juxtaposed in such a manner that the pitch gradually increases from the center in the direction of juxtaposition toward both ends in the direction of juxtaposition. Consequently, the brightness is highest in the center of the screen of the liquid crystal display panel, and gradually decreases toward both ends of the screen. By reducing the number of lamps in this way, reduction in power consumption and reduction in size, thickness, and weight are achieved.
On the other hand, regarding the increase in the length and the decrease in the thickness of the lamps, a light source device has been proposed in which in order to maintain the performance, quality, and the like of the light source device by reliably holding the lamps that have become longer and thinner, lamp clips holding middle parts of the lamps at least one or two points are provided as well as lamp holders holding both ends of the lamps (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-210126).
When the lamps are held one by one by using lamp clips each having one holding portion holding one lamp, a problem arises in which the number of lamp clips increases and this increases the number of man-hours for holding the lamps by using the lamp clips.
To solve this problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-210126 discloses lamp clips integrally provided with a plurality of holding portions holding a plurality of adjoining lamps, respectively.
When such lamp clips are used, since the lamps can be held in such a manner that a plurality of adjoining lamps are held together, the number of lamp clips and the number of man-hours associated with the lamp clips can be reduced. Specifically, for example, when four lamps are juxtaposed, two lamp clips integrally provided with two holding portions holding adjoining two lamps, respectively, are provided, and the lamp holding operation is performed twice.
In particular, the lamp clips disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-210126 have a partly opened arc-shaped grasping configuration, are made of a transparent material having flexibility, are integrally molded as clips for one tube and for multiple tubes, protect the lamps, ensure the position accuracy of the lamp arrangement to prevent the brightness unevenness on the information display screen, and prevent the influence of the shadows of the lamp holders on the brightness reduction and the brightness unevenness on the information display screen by using the transparent material.
When a plurality of lamps are juxtaposed with different pitches as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H06-75216 and the lamps are held by using the lamp clips disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-210126, a structure is considered in which all the lamp clips are arranged in a staggered configuration in such a manner that one lamp is associated with one lamp clip.
However, with this structure, a problem arises in which the number of lamp clips increases and the number of man-hours for holding the lamps by using the lamp clips increases.
Accordingly, a structure is considered in which all the lamp clips are arranged in a staggered configuration in such a manner that two lamps are associated with one lamp clip.
However, since the pitches between the lamps are not fixed, it is necessary to prepare various kinds of lamp clips the separation distances between the two holding portions of which are different from one another in correspondence with the various pitches, and this excessively increases the number of kinds of lamp clips.